Jail time

Trane began working on improving the energy efficiency of the County Jail in 2019 and on Monday had a ribbon cutting to celebrate the successful completion of the project. Before the actual cutting of the ribbon, there were several presentations in the second floor conference room.

The first speaker was Commissioner Culp. He said that the jail had serious heating and cooling problems that were obvious when the jail became operational in 2008. Different parts of the jail had different temperatures so that at times both heating and cooling systems were operating. Over the years there were a number of efforts made to fix the problems but they all failed. Trane and its partner on this project, Solential Energy, finally came through with a solution. A summery of the problems and what Trane and Solential did is contained in a Youtube video here.

The next speaker was Sheriff Willamson. He said that the heat audit that Trane conducted showed where the problems were. One of the failed attempts to correct the problem had given control of the HVAC system to the contractor and the Sheriff was happy that jail employees were now back in control of the system.

The third speaker, State Senator Ron Alting, spoke from Indianapolis via Microsoft Teams. When the State Senate is not in session, he works for Trane. He stressed that the work done at the jail was a collaborative effort between Trane and local officials. 

The next speaker was a solutions manager from Trane. He noted that the first project that Trane did for the County was correcting problems at the Community Corrections facility and their success in that project led to the jail project. Trane took eight months studying the jail before they began work. That time was needed to figure out exactly what needed to be fixed.

He was followed by the CEO of Solential Energy, the company that installed the solar field. The solar array covers 3.5 acres and has 2232 panels. The project is not completely finished. The ground under the panels will be planted with native flowers and grasses that will reduce the need for mowing and will provide flowers for bees. Finally, Mr Culp noted that the County will be able to pay off the bonds used to finance the project with the energy savings that the project provides. The added comfort for the jail inmates and employees is free.

The speeches were finished and everyone got out of jail and walked over to the solar array for the ribbon cutting. The ribbon was cut by the Sheriff, two Commissioners, and three members of the County Council. (I was a bit slow in getting my camera ready so I missed the moment of the cut.)

I hung around for a bit to take a closer look at the panels and hear some comments about the project. 

In many installations the posts holding the panels are simply driven into the ground. Tests of the soil here indicated that the ground had too much give so the posts needed to be anchored in concrete.

I also took the opportunity to take a picture of the jail garden. This gives inmates an opportunity to get out of their cells and enjoy some sun while doing something useful.

WLFI from Lafayette filmed some interviews, though they did not stick around for the presentations or the ribbon cutting. Below is a picture of Kendell Culp being interviewed.

In a totally unrelated item, cars were lined up on Saturday at Brookside Park.

They were waiting to see the Easter Bunny.

It was for the annual Easter egg hunt that this year had no hunt. It was drive-thru. The Lions Club handled it very efficiently and the line of cars disappeared after about ten minutes. I think most of the people who attended came early.